Move Cybertron 2 - Istoral Ambush
Istoral Trench On entering the huge chasm known as the Istoral Trench, fiercely cold winds buffet your chassis. Several landslides have occured here, dumping tons of twisted metal on the floor of the trench, forcing a slower pace to maneuver through the scrap fields. On the canyon walls are multiple caverns and sharp-edged metal outcroppings enveloped in shadow. A flicker of movement up above indicates that you may not be alone. Could that be a pack of Turbo-Wolves looking for a meal? The trench continues indefinitely to the North and South. Blueshift is standing about, sword drawn and guarding the opening to the inner workings of Cybertron. "It's a hard life!" he mumbles as he shoots at a few model Sweeps that he made Catechism is on Cybertron, here in the zero hour. Why? She has a lot to live for, doesn't she? She has a nice career... that will be gone if Cybertron bites it. She has friends... who alteratively RAM-damaged or estranged. It's better to be here and do whatever small thing that she can manage and possibly die for her Empire than to be safe but deny her Empire her outmost. She frowns at Blueshift and demands, "What are you doing?" Across Cybertron and the space around it, the skies turn red as the ion storm approaches. Flashes of lightning discharge across the void, as the astral terror nears, ready to wipe out all life. "Passing the time" Blueshift mutters, as the lighning flashes across the sky. "I'm guarding a dumb chasm which no-one in their right mind would ever attack, against what, a STORM?" He swings his sword angrily against the rock face. "Me, the greatest warrior!" There is a sudden, sharp rumble that shakes the Sweep models from their collectible stands and topples them to the ground. Catechism whirls around at the rumble, trying to seek out its source, her guns running hot. She wanrs, "Our enemies may use this moment of weakness to strike. Be on guard, Blueshift." Blueshift growls as his models are knocked over. "Nnnn earthquakes!" he shouts, sweeping them away with his sword. "I can't fight nature! I want a PROPER FOE!" He yells this to the heavens, waving his sword in the air Sunder arrives! The Sweep is wondering what to do, given that Cybertron is in danger and something must be done to save it. He hovers above the ground as it quakes. He almost wishes Blueshift /would/ fight nature. It would be like Don Quixote tilting at windmills. Catechism mutters dourly, "I guess this is it, then. The shaking has started." She looks up as the Sweep arrived, shielding her optics with a hand to keep off the red glare of the ion-angry sky. She ushers, "I guess we had better get underground now. There are tunnels here." Just a few months back, she was exploring them. The shaking has an unusual rhythm. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOMBOOM. BOOMBOOM. BOOMBOOM. BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM and then suddenly a nearby derelict building is shattered, knocked to one side by the mighty sword of Piranacon, the traitorous Super Warrior! "LET NOTHING STAND IN MY WAY," the fearsome deep-sea destroyer roars, "NOT EVEN THE DOOMED SHELL OF CYBERTRON ITSELF!" Primanoctus says, "THIS IS WARLORD PRIMANOCTUS OF THE QUINTESSON HIGH COUNCIL! WE THANK YOU FOR MAKING THE PREPARATIONS TO EASE OUR HIJACKING OF YOUR WORLD AND RECLAIMATION OF OUR PROPERTY" Blueshift twists his head up, as a gigantic pink robot comes around the corner. "What the... where did HE come from!" He flies into the air, sword raised. "You shall not pass!" he yells, thrusters boosting towards the gestalt. "I will destroy you all!" You strike Piranacon with Blueshift To The Rescue!. Catechism wishes that she hadn't wasted her bomb-making supplies on blowing up the B-SOD, now. It didn't seem like a waste at the time, but when she's staring up at Piranacon, gape-mouthed, now... yeah, that was a complete and utter waste. She demands of the gestalt, her anger rising, "What do you want?" O:{> Sunder says, "You filthy tentacled floating swine of a squid! I will rip your tentacles off one by one, and stuff them down each of your five grotesque faces." The Sweep snarls at Piranhacon. "Begone invader! Back to your Quintesson masters! You will not have Cybertron this night!" And with that, the speedy Sweep transforms and opens fire with his machine guns. "I will fillet you and make you into Sushi!" the Sweep adds, "Though it will probably be unfit even for Sharkticon consumption!" Sunder strikes Piranacon with ballistic. "WHAT DO I /WANT/?!" Piranacon blares, taking the two attacks in stride, although his plating is now a bit scorched in spots. "ALL I WANT RIGHT NOW... IS TO /DESTROY/ YOU!" Suddenly, Piranacon swipes out with a spiked fist, swinging a clumsy haymaker toward Blueshift! Piranacon strikes you with BIRDY! for 22 points of damage. Catechism protests, "You can't destroy Blueshift! Redshift is Blueshift's brother, so he gest first dibs!" She orders Blueshift and Sunder, "Aim for the joints! Try to force him onto uneven terrain where we can tip him!" That said, she opens on Piranacon with her arm guns, running erratically. Catechism strikes Piranacon with Zap!. "NOOOO!" cries Blueshift as he is flung backwards, his sides splitting and all manner of objects, from weapons to spanners to even a delicious energon sandwich spills out. He finds himself lying on the ground, looking up at the mighty foe. "Catechism!" he screams manfully. "Kill him!" He raises his sword, and hurls it at the mighty beast. You strike Piranacon with HURL. The mighty gestalt Piranacon rumbles across the landscape, ignoring Blueshift and turning his mighty rage onto Sunder. His teal gun rises, and he opens fire, the flintlock mode of Seawing spewing deadly death at the Sweep. "Out of my way, I am going DOWN into Cybertron!" he roars Piranacon misses Sweepcraft with his SPACE-FLINTLOCK attack. Catechism picks up the energon sandwich and attempts to slam it into Piranacon's ankle, crying out, "Eat this!" She replies to Blueshift, "Kill him? I'm trying! It's going to take... a while." Optimistically. Straxus, they are so very screwed. She is finding herself wishing that Vindicator was still an operational combiner. Catechism orders, "Try to seal off the entrance. If he wants to go down, we have to stop him!" Catechism strikes Piranacon with Delicious Energon Sandwich. Decepticon Shuttle is a blazing streak across the sky! At least for a few moments, as he's rocketing down into the open atmosphere of Cybertron towards the excitement in the Istoral Trench. When the shuttle dips down over the area, he finally catches sight of the large form of the Seacon gestalt ripping its way towards...wherever the heck it's going. "Don't matter how many times I see it, that fraggin Piranacon gets uglier and uglier!" As he cuts his retrothrusters to bring his speed to a fraction of what it was, he opens the hatches at his rear section to allow his passenger to disembark. Onslaught is standing immune from the general and rather unpleasant coldness of space from inside Astrotrain's cargo bay. He turns toward the door, turning on the small screen built into the door mechanism, before he leans forward and studies the relayed video. "Astrotrain, I have a scheme that may prove distracting to the monster. There is some risk involved, however, but such is war." "Oh I just can't -wait- to hear it." The triplechanger quips, tone all but dripping sarcasm. Sweepcraft nimbly dodges the attack from the big clumsy fish-combiner. "Your reflexes are slow like dying goldfish!" the Sweep taunts, then lets him have it with his dual plasma cannons, both barrels. "Barbecuing you might make you more palatable," he quips. Sunder strikes Piranacon with plasma. MiG-29 's engines roar in the thin Cybertronian air as he rockets to the scene, not knowing anything apart from the fact that Piranacon is on the scene! Wasn't he supposed to be dead? Who can keep track! Whatever his status, he needs a good punch to the face, and only Fulcrum can deliver it. Because he is AWESOME. Blueshift staggers to his feet, and then transforms to his spacecraft mode, heading directly for the mighty gestalt. "Out of my way!" he roars to anyone in range. "None shall hurt me and pass! You won't do whatever nasty things to Cybertron's core!" Onslaught speaks to Astrotrain as if he hasn't heard the spaceborne triplechanger's comment. "It will require minute timing, Astotrain. Take a low and fast approach toward Pirannhicon. Then, at a signal from me, open your side door and I shall leap out before transforming: I will transmit targeting data and we will fire our heaviest weapons at the monster in synch. Do you understand the objective, Astrotrain?" "Oh yeah. Sounds great!" Astrotrain snarls out, tipping to one side as he rockets around a metal spire along the upper edge of the Istoral Trench, banking back again for his approach on Piranacon's large form. "Except I'm not a freakin weapons platform!" Okay so maybe he's bitching a bit more than usual. "Bah! Whatever, let's just do this! I'm tired of circlin around!" And with that, with his hatch having slid open to give Onslaught the option of disembarking whenever he well pleases, or just shooting out the hatch like some high riding gunner, the triplechanger bears in on Piranacon's huge form, undercarriage lasers lighting up like bright blue streamers. Astrotrain strikes Piranacon with Undercarriage laser barrage. Piranacon is hit from side to side, and swats at the various Decepticons angrily. The little hand of Tentakil zips out to grab Blueshift's sandwich and gobbles it up into his leg. "Stay still so I may /END YOUR LIFE/!" he blasts, out, and raising his magenta fist to the skies, blasts a bolt of energy into the ground itself, sending rocks flying everywhere Piranacon unleashes his CRUSH YOUR SOUL! attack on Fulcrum, Onslaught, Astrotrain, Sunder and Catechism, striking Sunder, Astrotrain and Fulcrum. Okay, ow. Ow ow ow ow ow. The green MiG that is Fulcrum is struck by flying debris that punches through his wings and generally beats the everloving tar out of the transformed blacksmith. Cursing like a sailor that his just realised that he's had intimate relations with his long lost sister, Fulcrum momentarily loses control of his systems and goes spiraling towards the gestalt! Fulcrum strikes Piranacon with ram. Catechism manages to avoid having her soul crushed via her acrobatic talents, though it is ironic, because Catechismn does not actually belive in souls. With minds that can be recorded and copied, what place does a soul have in their lives? She flits up into the air and shoots at Piranacon's hip. Catechism strikes Piranacon with 25-mm GAU-12 cannon . Onslaught does leap out as soon as the hatch opens in front of him, his attention focused on the looming shape of Pirannacon, which is just in time as it turns out. The rocks sent up by the gestalt's shoot flies over his head by inches but Onslaught, still cool under pressure, turns to face the massive gestalt and transforms into his battlestation form. His turret elevates as his computer plots a target solution until, several seconds later, two bright beams of energy emerge from Onslaught's barrels toward the mechanical monster in the distance. Onslaught transforms into his vehicle mode but, not content with stopping there, smoothly alters his second mode to become his own artillery park. Onslaught strikes Piranacon with Aggressive Geometry. Blueshift transforms, and immediately flies back against Piranacon, swinging his sword at the creature's back. "You will fall at MY hand! No-one steals Cybertron but me!" he yells. Really, he's more upset that the monster broke all his action figures You strike Piranacon with HURL. Decepticon Shuttle is struck by flying rocks! Some of them careening off of his nosecone as he wobbles rapidly for a few seconds, trying to regain control. "Auuuugh!" He finally decides to embrace gravity rather than fight it anymore, shifting and transforming as he plummets downwards, lifting up into his humanoid form JUST in time to land behind the gestalt with a heavy *TOOM* of impact. "Slaggin razzin frazzin...." He can be heard snarling as he pulls out the length of his energy sword, igniting the blade and leaping up. Anti-gravs in his feat lift him up as he ignites his blade with a brilliant vermillion glow, aligning on the gestalt's back and attempting to stab it somewhere between Piranacon's shoulder joints! "Laugh this off ya overgrown trash compactor!" Astrotrain strikes Piranacon with energy_sword. Onslaught decides to up the ante on Piranacon and so, with his barrels still trained, he commands his autoloaders to switch to something a little more snazzy. Anyone standing near him would here the audilbe ka-chunk as two ballistic rockets are loaded before they shoot from the Combaticon leader's barrels and begin to fly in a computer controlled evasive pattern toward the large gestalt. Hopefully they shall hit! Onslaught strikes Piranacon with Awesome Air to Ground Rocket. Piranacon buckles as Astrotrain impacts on his shoulders, the Gestalt staggering about. The other bursts have hurt it, but Astrotrain's is the one he is most angry with, as his huge hands snap and grasp at the Decepticon, optics flaring. "Out of my way INSECT!" he growls, continueing to head towards the crack in the trench as he goes. "The masters... they are abandoning this galaxy and they want to take this world with them!" Piranacon misses Astrotrain with his Cripple attack. Sweepcraft is struck, having just gone in close to deliver the plasma. His attempts to dodge fail, since the pattern of the attack seems widespread and hits several others. Grunting in discomfort, the Sweep turns around. "Well, if you want to get up close and personal, allow me!" Sweepcraft growls, "You shall not enter Cybertron's core! And you will not succeed in assisting your masters in conquest!" And as if to emphasize the point, the Sweep barrels towards Piranacon's chest, to impact it in an effort to deter the Seacon Combiner from entering the tunnels themselves. Sunder strikes Piranacon with ram. Catechism perks up at the mention of abaonding the the *galaxy*. Whao, the Quintesson have gotten out of the galaxy? That's major. Maybe even on the order of the Dyson ring. She drops to the ground, draws her whip, and attempt to trip Piranacon. More likely, he's going to drag her over, but she has to try. Catechism strikes Piranacon with Electrified Whip. MiG-29 bounces off Piranacon and falls to the ground, transforming into robot mode as he does so, just in time to fall flat on his face. "Ow" he proclaims, shaking his head as he gets to his feet, his self diagnostic systems screaming at him. Fulcrum overrides the internal alarms, grabbing his hammer and sidestepping the massive combiner, swinging his dreadful sledge around at his leg. "Stop hitting us with stuff!" he groggily yells Fulcrum strikes Piranacon with Thunderhammer . Astrotrain is going to need every bit of his near legendary speed if he's going to avoid getting crunched in an instant! As the huge hand sweeps towards him, he lunges to one side, narrowly avoiding the oversized limb as he holds onto the hilt of his sword, still imbedded in the gestalt's huge armor platings. "Oh no ya don't!" Pulling himself back up a moment later, he wrenches his sword free, even as the charge disappears from the blade and he begins slashing its sharp end at Piranacon's huge hand. "Back! Back! Down boy! Sit, stay!" Astrotrain strikes Piranacon with sword. Blueshift tenses his fists up, leaping at Piranacon's head and tryng to pull it off. He strains at the robot, trying to get to Snaptrap's face underneath. "You used to be so good... uh... so EVIL!" he yells out. "You are the worst!" You strike Piranacon with Tug!. As the storm gets closer, the rumbling gets louder as the skies redden. Judgement is coming! Piranacon seems to misunderstand Fulcrum. As Fulcrum asks to stop being hit, Piranacon actually turns on him, bunches his fists, and swings them at the blacksmith. Obviously some mistake. "I am a LIVING WEAPON!" he roars angrily, taking another step towards the crack. "And when we are safe, the Masters will give control of Cybertron to ME!" Piranacon strikes Fulcrum with OFF!. Onslaught turns his barrels downward toward Piranacon's right leg joint, a substantially more powerful explosive loading into his barrels, before he lets loose with his most powerful blast toward the gestalt as he occupies himself with the other Decepticons. Onslaught strikes Piranacon with Massive Matchsticks. Sunder transforms after slamming into Piranacon, who seems intent on pummeling Fulcrum instead. His claws come out and he slashes at the creature's knee, trying to force it to limp, at the very least. Sunder strikes Piranacon with talon swipe. Catechism releases a blast from her capacitor banks, attempting to use destructive magnetism on Piranacon's knee, her dismal attempt at tripping the combiner a failure. She grouses, "Sure, sure. The Autobots talk about how they protect Cybertron... but where are they now?" Catechism strikes Piranacon with Magnetic Mayhem. Wheeeee! Fulcrum only has enough time to look surprised before Piranacon's fist sends him flying. The blacksmith smashes into the metallic ground and skids along for quite some distance, his passage only stopped by impact with a ruined wall. Optics flickering he decides to just lie there for a while (no attack) Blueshift glares at Sunder and then runs away. Away? What, is he a coward? No, instead he transforms to his spacecraft mode, his own blasters firing away at Piranacon's knees, attempting to help make the giant fall. "Yesssss bow before me!" he shouts, cackling over the radio You strike Piranacon with Speed Force. Astrotrain is still up on his perch! Although being tossed about with Piranacon's movements isn't making it easy to hang on! "How many times we gotta tell ya to sit and STAY already!?" He howls out, yanking his sword free again and putting it away as he produces his rifle a moment later. Pointing it straight down right between the gestalt's shoulders, he holds it two-handed as he unloads at point blank range. *BWOOOM!* Astrotrain strikes Piranacon with Ion Rifle Overload. Primanoctus says, "Cybertronians. In scant breems, our spacebridge will lock into yours, and pull Cybertron to our fleet at the edge of Mutter's Spiral. Prepare yourself for your new lives" O:{> Sunder says, "If you do this, you will perish at our talons." Quickswitch says, "No--NO-NO!!! DAMMIT!!!" Arachnae says, "Quint, in scant breens, any one of us could cut the power to one of our transmitters and you could fry with the rest of us." Arachnae says, "After all, the peercent change of failure with this setup is higher than a 9 gate setup. We were cheap." Piranacon is starting to show signs of serious damage. Astrotrain's shot explodes part of his helmet, and the concentrated blaster fire hitting his knees causes Tentakil's head to catch fire in the center of the combiner's knee joint. The submarauding super warrior staggers -- and, with a titanic twitch, topples, threatening to tear the totality of the tenacious team in two! Piranacon unleashes his CRUSH YOUR SOUL! attack on Astrotrain, Fulcrum, Catechism, Sunder and Onslaught, striking Onslaught, Sunder, Catechism and Fulcrum. Primanoctus says, "Cybertronian, to force an entire race to commit suicide would be a great honour indeed." Arachnae says, "We evacuated, did you?" And as he falls, his hand swings at Blueshift! You evade Piranacon's G_Punch attack. Primanoctus says, "Hnnn" Onslaught isn't crushed, thankfully, due to his distance from Piranacon but the fall causes a tremor of sufficient force to cause large sections of metal to break away from the cliff above him. Most miss but a large one falls onto his back, damaging his turret and bending the barrels downward. He slowly transforms onto his back before pushing the slab of metal up and away and then crawling to his feet. Arachnae says, "Storm edge is awful close now, isn't it? Don't think your ship'd outrun the leading edge at this point. Welcome to the fryer. We've been waiting." Catechism has her soul crushed. Despite the fact that she does not believe in souls, this really, seriously hurts. Later, she'll blame it on swamp gas. Right now, she looks like she collided with a bus. Catechism unleashes her acid on Piranacon, trying to see if he's really down and out or just down. Catechism strikes Piranacon with Acid Rain. Arachnae laughs. Fulcrum is crushed, though not by the gestalt but by debris that ripples up from his fall. "SLAGGER" Fulcrum roars, his hammer now surrounded by a crackling aura of energy, the green seeker enraged beyond caution as he jets out of the rubble pile that covers him and goes to beat Piranacon's face in with a shock hammer Fulcrum misses Piranacon with his Thunderhammer attack. Astrotrain isn't going to fall for that again! Vacating his perch in record time, he jets straight up into the air, getting clear of the toppling superwarrior as he kicks in his antigravs to get some height. His momentum carries him back several field lengths, until he lands and stares at the fallen form of the Seacon's merged form. "HAH! And if ya think we're done with ya...!" And with that, he transforms in short order, slamming down on his eight huge steel wheels, a thick belch of smoke erupting from his stacks. "Say hello to my little reinforced friend!" And with that, he explodes forward, hurtling every ounce of his not inconsiderable weight rocketing at Piranacon's downed form, attempting to ram him right in the side with gestalt-toppling force while he's down! Astrotrain strikes Piranacon with Ram. Blueshift transforms to robot mode, and is standing idly by as *THOOM*! The massive fist of Piranacon nearly cleaves him open. Luckily as fate would have it, it just misses him. He leaps backwards, kicking out at the giant robot. "Uuugh stay DOWN!" he shouts out You strike Piranacon with Boot. Onslaught switches to other techniques as his barrels are now damanged, retrieving his rifle, before he too takes to the skies and flies toward the collpase restalt, He touches down on the back of Piranacon's head, aiming his rifle, along the neck line, before unleashing a piercing beam horizontally along it. Onslaught strikes Piranacon with Burning Beam. Sunder was tenaciously tearing at the combiner's knee when he falls over, taking Sunder with him. Well, the Sweep's claws were pretty deeply dug in, and he was having trouble removing them in time to escape. He's semi-pinned under Piranacon now, but he gets out his little dagger and stabs the monster in the knee, to make him get off him. Sunder strikes Piranacon with blade. The titan has fallen, and the attacks keep coming -- Piranacon's massive body twitches and seizes, before finally dissolving, breaking apart into the six Seacons. Of them, only Snaptrap is conscious, and as he stands, he looks 'round, seeing the crowd of Decepticon warriors surrounding him. "Well... slag," Snaptrap says. Piranacon separates into the individual SEACONS. Snaptrap has arrived. As Snaptrap stands about, Blueshift is close. Very close. "Welcome to CYBERTRON!" he shouts, swinging his fist at the traitor's face You strike Snaptrap with WELCOME TO EARF!. The storm over Cybertron gets worse and worse, the planet itself starting to shake, as flaming meteorites start to drift into the atmosphere Catechism is not a happy person. The ion storm hangs red over her head, and her assigned command is about to either explode or be stolen. She has little charity in her crushed soul, and she isn't about to waste any of it now. With an incoherent cry of, "Aaaaruu!" she follows Blueshifts example and tries to slug Snaptrap one. Catechism strikes Snaptrap with Smiting the Heathens. Locomotive finally snaps back to the here and now, noticing that the sky has taken a -very- evil look to it. "Oh, right, the big storm and stuff..." He blinks, even as the others begin to gangbeat on Snaptrap's form. "So, this is where we should beat feet and get outta here, right!?" Onslaught was near the head and since Snaptrap is the torso he was in a prime position to attack. He raises the butt of his rifle, taking several quick steps forward, before trying to bring the rifle down on the back of the Seacon's neck. "You have tried and failed again, Seacon! This time I will ensure you do not forget! Onslaught strikes Snaptrap with Da Smackdown. The Furious Sweep arises upon Piranacon's dissemblage, and pounces with a snarl at Snaptrap. Talons bared, attempting to tear into the Seacon's face. "Die, traitorous whelp!" he snaps. Sunder strikes Snaptrap with talon swipe. The sky over Cybertron darkens, and then flares into a blue light as the spacebridge network is activated, slowly fizzling and enveloping the entire sky As the sky turns blue above, Snaptrap is punched from person to person to person, denting his head deeper and deeper, culminating in his chest being torn open by Sunder's claws. The endtimes may yet be approaching, and looking up, Snaptrap can see that. "Stop! We're -- we're brethren! All of us! LOOK!" Snaptrap points to the shattering heavens. "If I must die one final time -- I want -- I want to die as a /DECEPTICON/." Is he bluffing to save face? Who knows. Armageddon makes people act weird. The skies turn from ion-storm red to spacebridge blue as Cybertron is enveloped, and as soon as that happens, it is over, and the sky is black again. But the stars have changed, and two huge suns blaze in the sky Blueshift nods at Snaptrap. "Well said my noble brother!" he utters. Then he punches Snaptrap again. "WELCOME TO CYBERTRON!" You strike Snaptrap with WELCOME TO EARF!. The punch causes Snaptrap's chest logo of a stenciled squid to flip into one of a Decepticon with a 'da na na NA NAAA' noise as he collapses to the ground. Catechism looks Snaptrap up and down, circling around him. She says softly, "You wish to die a Decepticon?" She transforms, into a rather battered F-35, which still oozes raw military lethality, even in its maimed shape. She hovers up unsteadily in the air, moving her nosecone to face Snaptrap. The fighter jet intones calmly, "Then die." There is the hiss of a launch as she lets one off the chain. Catechism strikes Snaptrap with AIM-120C AMRAAM. Snaptrap's legs explode when the rocket hits his pelvis. "AAAGH!" he cries, flopping about on the ground. Astrotrain watches as Snaptrap collapses under the blows, his own gaze moving upwards again to take in the sight of the two suns, his optics narrowing as he runs a quick check of his internal computers. Apparently he's unconcerned for Snaptrap's fate right now. "So where the smeg -did- we end up?" Blueshift stares down at Snaptrap, before booting him in the back. "WELCOME TO EARF!" he shouts for little reason You strike Snaptrap with Boot. Onslaught shakes his head as he witnesses the now crippled Snaptrap fall to the ground. He stands behind Snaptrap, lowering the barrel of his weapon, till he points it at the center of Snaptrap's forehead. "This is a pathetic fate even for him. I should terminate him now." "Welcome to... oh." Blueshift stops kicking Snaptrap as Onslaught speaks, and looks into the sky. "Uh, are we still on Cybertron?" F-35B Lightning II looks up, her nosecone tilting up, and she gazes at the sky. It's not a sky she has ever known. In wonder and in horror, she cries, "The stars have shifted!" The first sign. This is not over. It's only beginning. Galvatron is broadcast across every station, holding aloft three Quintesson faces. "I AM LEADER OF THE DECEPTICONS -- I AM THE SHATTERER OF WORLDS -- I AM THE DESTROYER OF STARS -- I AM THE CONQUEROR OF GALAXIES -- AND I HAVE SLAIN THE LEADER OF THE QUINTESSONS. AS OF NOW... THE QUINTESSONS AND THEIR HOLDINGS... BELONG TO /ME/. LET ANY QUINTESSON WHO QUESTIONS MY COMMAND... FACE THE SAME FATE AS YOUR LAST LEADER! WATCH AND SEE WHAT I WILL DO TO /ANY/ OF YOU WHO QUESTION THE NEW RULER OF QUINTESSA -- THE NEW COMMANDING FORCE OF THE QUINTESSONS -- THE SUPREME CONQUEROR OF ALL THAT /EXISTS/!" Galvatron then transforms into his cannon mode and executes the injured Primanoctus, before transforming back. "Obey or die." The transmission abruptly ends. Onslaught stands stock still, his weapon still trained on the injured Seacon, as he listens to Galvatron's message. Onslaught says, "Hail Galvatron!" Big-Brother-Sweep Sunder says, "HAIL GALVATRON!" Americon says, "Hail Galvatron!" Astrotrain says, "Heeey does this mean we own all them sharkticons now too?" Blueshift says, "HAIL GALVATRON!" Arachnae says, "Hail Galvatron!" You know, the Fleet says, "Hail GALVATRON!" <:D Catechism says, "Hail Galvatron." Astrotrain says, "Boss, boss! Can I have a gang of Sharkticons!? Pleeease?" Americon says, "Psst, Astrotrain, hail him..." Astrotrain says, "The Boss rules!" Cyclonus says, "HAIL GALVATRON" Snaptrap stares up at Onslaught, his new Decepticon symbol gleaming. "...do what you must... I accept my fate. At least... I can die... wearing the right colors." Astrotrain says, "Anybody know what star system we ended up in anyway?" Galvatron says, "DECEPTICONS." Arachnae says, "Yes sir?" Galvatron says, "TODAY... QUINTESSA." Galvatron says, "TOMORROW... THE UNIVERSE!" Geo says, "Again. LONG LIVE GALVATRON!" Galvatron says, "AND THROUGH IT ALL." F-35B Lightning II turns her cone to Onslaught, and she suggests, sighing, "...we should take him captive. He can die later, once we have questioned him." Galvatron says, "THROUGH THE MIGHT OF THE /DECEPTICONS/." Cyclonus says, "My Lord... you blew up Quintessa...." Galvatron says, "/CYBERTRON PREVAILS/!" Galvatron says, "I AM BEING /FIGURATIVE/!" Galvatron screams that so loud that it's engulfed in feedback. Geo squeaks and desynchs. Astrotrain says, "Hey Boss? Does this mean we can use those sharkticon pits the quintessons always had for those kangaroo courts of theirs?" Astrotrain says, "Cause I think tossin Autobots into em would be great fun!" Fulcrum has disconnected. Onslaught keeps his weapon trained at Snaptrap as Catechism turns to face him. He listens, not moving, as he lowers his audio receiver to dampen the sound of Galvatron's scream. Once that's done he turns, nodding, before pulling his weapon away from Snaptrap's head. "Yes, you are right...he may be of use to us but perhaps not in the way he expected." He turns and looks toward Astotrain. "Astrotrain, we need to transport a prisoner. Kindly transform yourself and prepare for launch." Galvatron sounds like he is calming down, and perhaps a bit weary (he has lost a lot of energon after all). "/Later/, Astrotrain. For now... go forth... and find... and find out where the hell we are." Astrotrain says, "I'm on it! Headin for orbit now!" Cyclonus says, "Of course, my Lord" Geo says, "If someone could get me out of one of the consoles at Nightsiege it'd be helpful." You know, the Fleet says, "Alpha Centauri, sir." <:D Catechism says, "We are going to take Snaptrap prisoner." Galvatron says, "We... we're in... Sol?" Arachnae says, "I'm a bit disoriented underside, we're still having some shakes and tremors down here. The sensor pings are showing some serious seismic problems westwards of my position." Americon says, "I thought we were merciless?" You know, the Fleet says, "No, sir. I can see you from the moon of Dis." Galvatron says, "I... my astrocharts are damaged, damned Quintesson -- I -- where? What?" Galvatron sounds uneven. Geo says, "Arachnae, can you send me the data? I'm stuck inside a console, but I can scan." Arachnae says, "Re-rigging another signal booster. These seismic things were short term. Expect datapackets to start coming in now." Geo says, "Understood." Soundwave says, "Analyzing known stellar objects." Astrotrain says, "You know, the worst part of this is we're gonna have to change -all- our addresses." Geo says, "I will hang out until people can return to Imperial Headquarters and perform scans." "You won't regret showing this -- tremendous act of mercy!" Snaptrap says. "I promise you, brother! We are torsosibs, after all -- cut from the same scramble-cloth!" Arachnae says, "Thank you Geo. I'll see if I can get to the more westerly sensors and give them a kick." Arachnae says, "It's still pretty rough down here." F-35B Lightning II bets that they will indeed regret it. If they are unlucky, they will even live to regret it. All the same, she is an interrogator, and she cannot pass up the chance to see that Snaptrap is questioned. She notes in chilly fashion, "Your crimes will weigh heavily upon you. Why did you seek the underground?" Geo says, "Be careful. There are probably likely to be problems from the spacebridge jump. There were here. Two consoles are down, one with me stuck inside it." Arachnae says, "It's the underside, there's always problems." Snaptrap shrugs. "My Seacons and I -- we are pirates, we follow the tides of war. And we have paid dearly for it -- we sought to go where the energon was more plentiful, but... we are nothing more than automatons now, toys for Quintesson scientists. They thought they had bred this ability to question them out of me with each successive Snaptrap build -- but I am clever! I hid it from them! I -- /deceived/ them," Snaptrap says emphatically, "like a /Decepticon/." Parts spin, components shift and Astrotrain's body grows in size until he is an enormous space shuttle. Astrotrain moves up to the Istoral Chasm. Astrotrain has left. Astrotrain says, "Huh. It's kinda wierd havin actual -sunlight- on Cybertron." The move is over! Two new suns shine in the sky, and each room now looks... different! The move also seems to have shaken loose Unicron's head from the surface! Americon says, "Yeah, how do we turn them down?" F-35B Lightning II transforms back to robot mode, and she withdraws a standard Decepticon pair of shackles, the kind her status as a junior interrogator allows her, and she moves to bind Snaptrap for transport as a prisoner. Astrotrain says, "Hey I just realized." Astrotrain says, "We got Sharkticons! N more manual labor!" Geo says, "Bah." You know, the Fleet says, "Haven't we tried to use Sharkticons before?" Snaptrap is relatively easy to bind -- he has no legs at the moment. The other Seacons are unconscious, and as such easy pickings as well -- to be chained together, like some sort of... chained... gang. Cyclonus says, "Astrotrain, our new recruits will need habitation. You are assigned to triple-duty on cargo loads for raw supplies" Catechism totally puts the Seacons on a chain gang. She then tries to get them loaded for transport, dragging or carrying them, as needed. Astrotrain says, "TOTAL buzzkill..." Astrotrain says, "...can I at least have some sharkticons for loading duty?" Cyclonus says, "No Astrotrain, you may not. Not until their loyalty has been fully proved" Mostly dragging. But once it's done with, it's done with, and Catechism can play in Cybertron's brand new sunshine! <:D Catechism says, "I have secured the Seasons." Blueshift says, "I will have Summer" F-35B Lightning II is going to go pull the dumbest aerial stunts she possibly can, despite her injuries. *That* is how a Seeker celebrates. <:D Catechism says, "...Seacons. Sorry. Voicebox glitch." Arachnae says, "Found IHQ again. Out of the underside.. And srsly, things are rather.. odd out there." Geo says, "Ooh." Cyclonus says, "That will not do. Decepticons, reassert normalcy immediately, otherwise when Lord Galvatron recovers, he will be /angry/" Decepticon Message: 2/86 Posted Author Istoral Trench sortie Sun Oct 12 Catechism ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Catechism appears, battered and crushed but her spirits intact. Two suns shine in the background, and she reports as the proud and defiant Decepticon that she is, "Cybertron Occupation Commander Catechism, reporting, and let me tell you, I am thrilled to be reporting from Cybertron!" She grins widely, a gesture which curiously contains zero mirth and an awful lot of unspoken menace. "Piranacon attacked right when the rest of the madness went down. Blueshift, a Sweep (Maybe Sunder?), Fulcrum, Astrotrain, Onslaught, and I were able to hold him off and force him to demerge. Piranacon claimed that the Quintessons have galaxy-jumping technology, the ability to leave this galaxy and visit others, something no known culture has verifiably proven yet. He also showed a strong desire to breach into Cybertron's underground. When demerged, Snaptrap said that he wished to die a Decepticon, among Decepticons. Onslaught and I decided it would be more useful to take Snaptrap and the other Seacons captive for later questioning. Snaptrap thanked us for our 'mercy'." Catechism laughs heartily and unpleasantly. "Cybertron prevails. Catechism, out." Her image winks out. Back the Decepticon spinny.